The Netherlands
is the European
part of the Kingdom
of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der
Nederlanden), which is formed by the Netherlands,
the Netherlands
Antilles and Aruba.
The Netherlands is a constitutional
monarchy, located in northwestern Europe.
It borders the North
Sea to the north and west, Belgium
to the south, and Germany
to the east. The current borders were formed in 1839.

Nelson
Kruschandl - I loved Holland

The Netherlands is often referred to by the name Holland.
This is, however, misleading, since the provinces of
North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are
only two of the country's twelve provinces. Regardless
of the technicalities, I think of this interesting
country as Holland.

The Netherlands is a
densely
populated and geographically low-lying country (its
name literally means "low countries" or
"low lands") and is popularly known for its windmills,
clogs
(wooden shoes), dikes, tulips, bicycles,
and social tolerance.
Its liberal
policies receive international attention, such as those
concerning drugs, prostitution, same-sex
marriage and euthanasia.
The country is host to the International
Court of Justice and the International
Criminal Court at The
Hague.

I
last visited Holland in 2004 with Sharon and Gemma.
We stayed with Claire and Peter near Eindhoven,
who were fabulous hosts and thanks again to them for
their generous hospitality. We toured
Amsterdam and Volendam in looking for windmills,
while shopping liberally for souvenirs consisting of
clothing and towels and mugs.